We ALWAYS begin with the bread service- and we ALWAYS order it for 4, so we can get all the dips. There were some new ones on the plate, and we loved them ALL- very hard to choose which we like best. Looking at the current menu, it may have even changed again, because I don't recognize the new one on the bottom as fitting with any menu I can find online- it was coconut something, and it was great.

About halfway through the service, I realized that I had forgotten to ask for no pappadum. Not that there’s anything wrong with pappadum, but when you can have paneer paratha & onion kulcha ( even Naan which is yummy but kind of ordinary next to the other two), why on God’s green earth would you want to try a dry brittle cracker (which is what that pappadum is) with your dips? Well, it was ok that I had forgotten to mention it, because our AWESOME server thinks like I do and left that pappadum off the plates.
Next , there was a parade- I LOVE a parade!!

Click to play-

We were served our salad samplers- and since we like to sample everything, we ordered one of each salad, doubling the watermelon one. Here there were also some new ones to try! Salad Sampler

There were also several new choices on the main course menu. Slow Cooked in Gravy, Simple and Well Seasoned

Choice of two served with Basmati Rice or Five-grain pilaf
$18.99

Butter Chicken
Spicy Durban Chicken
Shrimp with Green Curry Sauce
Spicy Durban Shrimp
Beef Short Ribs
Lamb (prepared some other way than what the current menus say)

I tried the Butter chicken, which is basically the same as the old Red Curry Chicken but with cream added. They have also gone back to calling it Red Curry Chicken on the current menu). I also had an old favorite, the shrimp in green curry, along with Basmati rice, which is divine.

Someone else had the same shrimp, but also tried the short ribs-

I also know Pam ordered the 5 Grain Pilaf, which tastes like dirt. But she liked it. Never have seen anyone like that before!

I think someone else had the Sustainable Fish which that day was flounder, but I don’t have a pic. We were all enjoying our meal immensely- the only downside of this restaurant (and maybe if we would stop ordering every sampler known to man at our table it wouldn’t be an issue) is the size of the actual table- it is VERY VERY hard to fit all the food & wine on the table in their special holders! I wish the food imagineers would have a pow wow with the plate imagineers and the table imagineers when they plan these restaurants! SHEESH!

Digging in- tired but happy-

We were all WAAAAAAY too full for dessert, but we were treated to this anyway-Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Mint Sorbet $5.99

We all had a bite, it was yummy!

We rolled out of Sanaa, and were fading fast- but still wanted to check out Kidani, and Jambo, before hopping over to Epcot. But would we make it? Next!

We began with the usual- flying lessons! We love to fly the friendly skies!!

Click to expand...

Oh how I miss wine right now. I may have to make the hubby go out and find that Missing Virgin wine for my first glass after I have this baby.

Also had to find out more about it (Hey, I'm bored, nothing going on at work right now so nothing better to do):

MISSING VIRGIN 2008

The name refers to a printing error on a Virgin Island stamp. The virgin figure was omitted from the stamp, hence the nick-name, ?Missing Virgin?. St. Ursula was a virgin martyr who lived between the third and fifth centuries A.D. She was born in Britain, avoided marriage to a pagan king and is believed to have been slain for her faith with 10,000 virgin companions at Cologne, Germany. Christopher Columbus named the Virgin Islands in her honor.

A red blend of Pinotage and Petit Verdot grapes resulting in a wine which has an intensely blueish colour. A scrumptious full bodied rich wine with supple soft tannins. A hint of blueberries,fruit cake and wild heath on the nose. Enjoy with spicy dishes, light curry and beef roasts. Enjoy now or keep for up to 8 years

Well...good luck with that! But she really is going to miss out! Is there a second adventure on the Fantasy like there is on the Dream?

Click to expand...

I'm not sure, but I think there is at least two options you can do and I think one is Muppet-less. I'm still doing the Muppet one, but if she wants to try it (and she probably will....she loves that Kim Possible thing), then I will do it twice if needed.

We began with the usual- flying lessons! We love to fly the friendly skies!!

That one was mine. Everyone else went with the next one. I would just like to say, that of my 3, that last one- the Missing Virgin- one of the BEST red wines I have had the pleasure of enjoying. I found the missing virgin- and I really, REALLY loved her! So much so, I question her virginity at all at this point! Maybe now she is just Missing Virginity wine instead...

Oh how I miss wine right now. I may have to make the hubby go out and find that Missing Virgin wine for my first glass after I have this baby.

Also had to find out more about it (Hey, I'm bored, nothing going on at work right now so nothing better to do):

MISSING VIRGIN 2008

The name refers to a printing error on a Virgin Island stamp. The virgin figure was omitted from the stamp, hence the nick-name, ?Missing Virgin?. St. Ursula was a virgin martyr who lived between the third and fifth centuries A.D. She was born in Britain, avoided marriage to a pagan king and is believed to have been slain for her faith with 10,000 virgin companions at Cologne, Germany. Christopher Columbus named the Virgin Islands in her honor.

A red blend of Pinotage and Petit Verdot grapes resulting in a wine which has an intensely blueish colour. A scrumptious full bodied rich wine with supple soft tannins. A hint of blueberries,fruit cake and wild heath on the nose. Enjoy with spicy dishes, light curry and beef roasts. Enjoy now or keep for up to 8 years

I'm not sure, but I think there is at least two options you can do and I think one is Muppet-less. I'm still doing the Muppet one, but if she wants to try it (and she probably will....she loves that Kim Possible thing), then I will do it twice if needed.

Yay wine flight! Love it!

Click to expand...

If she loves Kim Possible, she will go CRAZY for this- it's really fascinating.

The video is fun, I had forgotten there was a parade in the restaurant and while on photobucket I had a peek at some more of the videos.

Click to expand...

Thanks for appreciating the immature humor- but who could resist the obvious?

There's a parade in the restaurant- there's also the music and drums elsewhere in the resort (both Jambo & Kidani) at different times of day. I hope you'll try AKV someday, Karin! It's very exotic and has SOOOOO much going on everyday. A special place for sure. Cammie did not enjoy staying there, but Lonnie, Kara & I LOVE it!

Before we went back to our car, we walked around Kidani a little bit. I will admit, I needed a little AKV fix to get me through to our stay there in November (In a Jambo GV. Did I mention we're staying in a Jambo GV?? We are! I'm SOOOO excited about it! ). Kidani & Jambo just have the coolest, most exotic vibe- and I LOVE all the art everywhere, it's such an immersive experience (I'm kind of thinking Aulani will will be the similar, but with the Hawaiian culture. KWIM? Did I mention I'm going to Aulani this summer! I am! SOOOO Excited!! ). And Lonnie is always happy to spend time at AKV- so she was happy to walk around, too.

I took pics outside of the Community Hall to show my SIL the type of things going on here (for our November visit).

We popped in the little store to see some new DVC merchandise-

But we didn't buy anything- I was saving my shopping for the ship!

When we were done at Kidani, Joanie and I were fading fast. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but Joan got about 1 hour of sleep the night before- I got maybe 2. So we were on no sleep- NO SLEEP! And it was starting to show. So we made an executive decision, and decided that since tomorrow was Cinco de Mayo and we would be at Epcot all day, we would take tonight off and do the unthinkable- go to bed early.

After we visited Jambo House- so we could show Pam the difference.

I actually took that another year, I was so tired at this point my pics of Jambo are limited.

Lonnie & Pam were runnin around like nuts, looking at everything- while Joanie and I walked straight for-

Well....not really. We actually passed by the bar (sorry, Drea) and did THIS instead-

Because we were SUPER crazeeee tired. Eventually, we decided to go searching for Lonnie & Pam, and ended up finding them in here-

It's the mornin! And we are up EARLY (for us- in WDW- it is 7 or 7:30). We realize that if we shower up fast (which most of us can do) we can make rope drop- which also means we'll get to ride Soarin! We NEVER make rope drop on these trips, so Joanie & I are pretty excited. But when 8:55 comes around....well, not everyone is ready. But Joanie & I are....so we head out, and Lonnie & Pam say they'll catch up quick....

Well, we did NOT make rope drop, unfortunately...but close enough for getting on Soarin in 20 minutes. Actually, we were walking so fast, I only had time for one pic-

YAY!!! We're on line! But we really need coffee! But we want to ride Soarin more!!

It's truly amazing the absolute flood of people RUNNING to the Land in the morning for this ride. It ain't no kids game!

It's Puddy time!

Woohoo!!! I'm at the Golden Gate Bridge again!

I am really looking forward to riding Soarin in DL next summer- after we have just been to San Francisco and Yosemite, I think it will be even MORE special.

We picked up 2 FPs for Lonnie & Pam- and we called them. And texted them. And called again. And texted again. And did this about- 10 times. But we got no response. Joan & I were in desperate need of some Java, so we jumped over to Sunshine Seasons-

And I dropped my danish, and my dear Joanie went and got me a new one- thanks, Mom.

But still...no text. No call. Where's Lonnie?

The reason we're concerned? Joanie and I were going to shoot over to MK for a quick visit- to see the new stuff during the day, AND to try that new spicy chicken waffle at Sleepy Hollow (because that sounded sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo yummy for lunch!).

But we have FPs for Lonnie & Pam. That need to be used, and soon. Because at WDW, they are now enforcing FP times.

Still no return on my calls.

We have been in EPCOT about an hour.

So with no reply, we ended up handing them off.

And we left EPCOT.

And as we walked up the ramp to the monorail, we saw the HOARDS of people coming into the park.

And we turned around.

And went back in.

And kicked ourselves, because we could have gone on Soarin a second time if we had not handed off our FPs! DOH!

But....we made someone else VERY happy- AND...it was Flower & Garden, so all was good!

We decided to go to Innoventions and ride Sum of All Thrills instead...

But we messed up, and went in the wrong one first.

Eventually, we found it!

We went to design our ride, and Joanie did the UNTHINKABLE- she hit the WIMP button! See, the thing about SOAT is that it is REALLY fun if you design a daring ride...kind of lame when you don't. But we'll cut her some slack- it was her first ride, after all, and she wasn't sure what to expect.

I think it was right around when we got off SOAT that we FINALLY got a text from Lonnie- they were in Sunshine seasons! In the park! Where were we?

Umm...on our way to WS...because it's nearly 11 am.

VERY VERY glad we didn't wait for them at BCV!

We all decided to meet up in Norway to ride it like a Viking before going to our main destination- MEXICO!! For Drinko de Mayo!!!

Coming up....the rest of the day! And hopefully posts from a DISmom that is not me!

We walked over to WS, because it was almost 11. On the way we got a hug-

Dillusional Joan insisted she was Peter Pan-

We saw purty...purty flowers...

We saw crazy flower cart people-

Who got even crazier when I gave them Flashy Rita pins! (I have a great pic of this, but not with my camera, I'll have to add it in later-). EDTA- here it is!

I had gotten a bunch of flashy Rita pins for all of us PLUS Manntra (who we REALLY missed) PLUS all of our favorite bartenders in the Ditch. They were a big hit on Cinco de Mayo! Then we passed-

And arrived at-

Where we also saw-

And finally found Lonnie & Pam to ride-

Which brought out our inner-Vikings-

We did a quick stop at-

Until it was finally time for-

And my FAVORITE WDW Bartender EVAHHHHHH- Bulmaro!

But, because it was Drinko-de-Mayo, we had limited time to spend with him or any of our other buddies, because today, there was no drinking at the bar- we had to move to a table!

I've actually never had to do that before!

But, I gave all those bartenders Flashy Ritas before I sat down.

Which they really liked alot.

Helloooooooo Jalepeno Rita-

We are in the land of tequila, far far away from the home base-

But we quickly were joined by our long lost DISmom, who we didn't see last year- our beloved Cammie!

OLE!

we would have ordered some crab tostadas, but they are GONE AGAIN!

I really, really hate that.

However, I did enjoy chatting with the surrounding tables of Rita enthusiasts- and there were plenty that day, my friends! But we decided that one Rita was enough for now (based on a breakfast of one danish and NO spicy chicken waffle), and when we were done, we decided to go to Italy- the new Wine Bar was calling our names!! On the way....